FEATURE: ‘I saw bodies all around us’

Although more than 70 years have passed since D-Day Ernie Covill, 91, from Wyberton, can still remember the day the landings took place.

He was just a teenager and a lorry driver in the Royal Army Service corps.

He said: “Our job was to transport the ammunition and we went all over France and out to Germany.

“I took part in the second day of the landings.

“It is hard because before we arrived we all thought about getting out there but to fathom what it was really like is hard to describe. We arrived in a big transport convoy, sailing from Southend in the UK.

“We were on the top deck of the landing craft but could not get off until the bottom deck got off.

“I remember seeing bodies floating everywhere in the sea around us. There was a big gun battery at the top of the beach and I remember it was raining and freezing cold.”

Talking about receiving the medal, Ernie said: “It was a surprise when they announced we would receive the medal but I feel honoured to get it.”